ITHACA, N.Y. — The No. 6-ranked Cornell men's hockey team and Yale battled to a 2-2 tie in front of a sold-out crowd of 4,267 at Lynah Rink on Friday night. Yale earned the extra point in the ECAC Hockey standings as freshman defenseman Hughie Hooker was the lone player to score in the best-of-three shootout.

Junior forward Dalton Bancroft and senior forward Jack O'Leary scored for the Big Red (2-0-1, 0-0-1 ECAC Hockey) and senior goaltender Ian Shane made eight saves in the draw.

Donovan Frias scored the first two goals of his collegiate career — both power-play goals — to pace the offense for Yale (0-2-1, 0-0-1 ECAC Hockey). Zach Wagnon chipped in a pair of assists, while Ronan O'Donnell and Rhys Bentham also notched helpers. Sophomore goaltender Jack Stark shined between the pipes for the Bulldogs, making 31 saves, which included stopping the last 20 shots he faced.

"I'm really disappointed," stated Mike Schafer '86, the Jay R. Bloom '77 Head Coach of Cornell Men's Ice Hockey. "I'm disappointed in the way our guys prepared. [Yale] bent but didn't break throughout the game. They didn't take the penalties they took against Denver [last weekend]. Tip your hat to them and their goaltender for playing well."

Bancroft opened the scoring early for the Big Red, netting the first goal eight seconds into the contest. It was the fastest goal to begin a game in Schafer's 30 years as Cornell's head coach, besting a 16-second goal by defenseman Ryan O'Byrne against St. Lawrence on Feb. 25, 2005. The tally was the fastest goal to open a game since Doug Derraugh '91 also scored eight seconds into a game against Princeton on Nov. 10, 1990.



Frias responded with the first of his two power-play goals, capitalizing on a 5-on-3 opportunity halfway past the first period. His latter goal came at the 8:47 mark of the second period to give Yale a 2-1 lead.

O'Leary evened the game with under seven minutes left in the middle stanza, redirecting a shot from the left point by senior defenseman Hank Kempf. Sophomore forward Jonathan Castagna logged the secondary assist on the tally.



Over the final 20 minutes of regulation and in the five-minute 3-on-3 overtime period, Cornell registered 32 shot attempts compared to Yale's five and had an 18-1 advantage in shots on goal.

The first three shooters in the shootout — Bancroft, O'Donnell, and Major — all had their shots saved or missed the net, leading to Hooker forcing the game to be on sophomore forward Ryan Walsh's stick. Stark halted Walsh's shot as the Bulldogs took the shootout victory.

GAME NOTES
• Friday was the 165th all-time meeting between the Ancient Eight rivals, dating back to the first meeting in New York City at St. Nicholas Rink on Feb. 22, 1902. Cornell's lead in the series now stands at 92-63-10 following the tie.

• The result marked the first time Cornell and Yale have played to consecutive ties since Feb. 11, 2017 (2-2 at Lynah Rink) and Jan. 12, 2018 (3-3 at Ingalls Rink), and is the first instance of consecutive games between Cornell and Yale ending in ties on the Big Red's home ice since a trio of contests ended in 2-2 draws (Jan. 28, 2006, Jan. 19, 2007, and Jan. 26, 2008).

• Cornell's nine-game unbeaten streak against Yale is its longest since going 12-0-4 over a 16-game span between Nov. 30, 2001 and Jan. 26, 2008.

• Bancroft's first-period goal is tied for the second-fastest goal to begin a game in program history. Bob Murray set the record with a goal six seconds into a Feb. 11, 1974 game against Yale. Robert Spitzmiller (Feb. 12, 1930 vs. St. Lawrence), Pete Marcov (Dec. 13, 1983 at Princeton), and Doug Derraugh (Nov. 10, 1990 vs. Princeton) were the net markers eight seconds into a game.
• Cornell's goal eight seconds into the game is tied for the 13th-fastest goal to begin a game on record in NCAA history.
• Kempf, O'Leary, Walsh, and sophomore forward Jake Kraft registered a point for the second straight game.

UP NEXT
Cornell will conclude its season-opening four-game homestand on Saturday, Nov. 9, when it welcomes Brown (0-1-0, 0-1-0 ECAC) to Lynah Rink. Puck drop between the Big Red and Bears is scheduled for 7 p.m. Game action will be broadcast on ESPN+ and over the airwaves on WHCU (870 AM, 97.7 FM, cortacatoday.com).

Brown is coming off a 5-3 loss to Colgate at the Class of 1975 Arena in Hamilton, N.Y. Alex Pineau, Ivan Zadvernyuk, and Ryan Shostak tallied the goals for the Bears, and Lawton Zacher made 25 saves in the setback.

Saturday will be the 140th all-time meeting between the Big Red and Bears. Cornell owns the series lead, 87-44-8, and has an 18-1-3 record against Brown over its last 22 meetings. During the span, the Big Red has outscored the Bears by 51 goals, 79-28, and has an average margin of victory of 2.32.

The Big Red has won the last four games against Brown while outscoring the Bears 20-2. Cornell has also prevailed in eight of the last nine against Brown with a plus-30 edge in goals, 37-7. Seven of the prior eight victories for Cornell over Brown have been by at least three goals.

Home ice has fared kindly to Cornell against Brown recently, as the Big Red is unbeaten over its last 10 games against the Bears at Lynah Rink (9-0-1). During that span, the Big Red has outscored Brown 37-14 and scored three-plus goals in all but one game.